A chairde,
After 14 years of Tory misrule, Keir Starmer now heads the British government. Sadly, Labour ha already shown it makes little difference which English party administers the six counties. The Good Friday Agreement says that it is for the people of Ireland alone to exercise their right of national self-
determination “without external impediment. British officials say a vote on Irish reunification “is not even on the horizon.” When it comes to giving justice to the Irish, a British horizon means generations away. Unionist leaders will not discuss a united Ireland, so long as British officials tell them there is no prospect of Britain allowing a border poll. On legacy, Labour promised to “repeal and replace” the law designed by the Conservatives to take away legal mechanisms which gave truth to victims’ families. Now they want to retain the ICRIR, the very commission set up by the Tories to bury the truth. This is heartbreaking for families who have fought for decades to get justice for loved ones murdered by crown agents. By continuing the ICRIR, the new
British government is showing yet again, they want to hide the truth about Britain’s dirty war. The British government continues post-Brexit economic policies which are a disaster for the north, refuses to appoint an Irish Language Commissioner, and recently broke a longstanding pledge on funding for Casement Park Gaelic Athletic Association stadium in Belfast.
Last February, Hibernians across the country joined a special live webinar broadcast from the Houben Centre, Holy Cross Church, in Belfast, where 18 grant recipients spoke about their work for freedom for all Ireland, and how much they count on Christmas Appeal donations.
Grants were awarded to justice campaigners like Relatives for Justice, Ballymurphy Massacre Committee, Bloody Sunday Trust and the Witness Project; groups helping ex-prisoners or bereaved like EALU and Green Cross; heritage groups like the Bogside Artists, St. Patrick Centre, Martin McGuinness Foundation and Duchas Oriall; groups keeping patriot graves like Belfast National Graves and Tyrone National Graves ; Cross-community groups like the Houben Peace Centre Project, Bridges Beyond Boxing and Omagh Choir, commemorative groups like the O’Neill-Allsopp Flute Band and
Greater New Lodge Committee.; and Ireland’s Future working for a vote to unite Ireland under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.
These groups are appealing to the AOH. Because the British want to close down work for freedom for all Ireland, these grant recipients desperately need us to come through for them! We cannot let down those working for freedom for all Ireland, at a time when their work is needed most.
I am personally appealing to every State, County and Division President, to take a lead, find a way to donate through special fundraising or donations from funds. Don’t let them down! Help make Freedom for all Ireland, not an aspiration or endeavour but the reality for those Irish people still denied it!
Labour Government and Irish Legacy Justice – Where do Victims Stand?